US moves against organ donation agency after alarming review
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has begun the decertification process for Network for Hope, the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) serving Kentucky and parts of Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia, citing persistent patient safety failures that officials said put potential organ donors and transplant patients at risk, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
According to HHS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the action after multiple federal reviews concluded that Network for Hope had failed to correct serious deficiencies despite repeated oversight and opportunities to improve.
The department said that between 2021 and 2024, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reviewed 351 cases in which organ donation had been authorized but was not completed. It found concerning issues in 103 cases, or 29.3%, including 73 patients who showed neurological signs considered incompatible with organ donation.
HHS said the reviews also raised concerns that some potential donors may not have been deceased when organ procurement was initiated. Investigators identified problems including inadequate neurological assessments, poor coordination with medical teams, questionable consent practices, and misclassification of causes of death, particularly in overdose cases.
In 2025, HRSA ordered a corrective action plan and monitoring program for Network for Hope while HRSA and CMS conducted separate reviews to determine whether the organization had addressed the identified deficiencies and continued to meet federal certification standards.
Both agencies concluded that the organization had not demonstrated sufficient improvement, leading HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to begin the CMS decertification process.
A CMS review conducted in May 2026 found that quality concerns persisted in areas including donor evaluation, adverse event reviews, and organizational administration.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that over 16,000 Kazakhstanis registered as posthumous organ donors.
